Computes

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kəmˈpjuːts/

Definitions

1. To perform calculations or evaluations systematically using an algorithm or method for data processing or analysis
2. To analyze data and derive numerical values or findings through systematic logical or mathematical operations
3. Carries out arithmetic operations or processes information using logical steps

Etymology: The verb "compute" arrived in English in the 1600s, borrowed from French "computer," which itself came from Latin "computare," meaning to reckon or count things up. Its closest relative in English is "count," the two forming a doublet: two words that entered English by different routes but share the same ancestor. "Count" came down through Old French, while "compute" was taken more directly from the learned Latin vocabulary of later centuries. The Latin root combines "com-," meaning together, with "putare," to think, reckon, or prune. So the original sense was of settling a sum by bringing numbers together and weighing them against each other. The idea of pruning, cutting back to the true value, is partly visible in the same family of words, which shows how strongly the Romans linked careful counting with careful thought.

Synonyms: calculates, figures, determines